Blumenthal Predicts SCOTUS Won't Punt Health Care Ruling

Emerging from the chamber after sitting in on the first day of Supreme Court health care arguments, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told TPM that he believes the justices won't punt the case and will uphold President Obama's health reform law by this summer.

"I think they're going to decide the case and uphold the Affordable Care Act," the senator said in an interview. "I think the court clearly seems to be looking through legal labels to the common sense importance and impact of the case, and its effect on Americans in preventing insurance abuses."

TPM reported that the justices seemed convinced that they have standing to rule. Blumenthal agreed, pointing specifically to Justice Antonin Scalia's comment that it's unclear why the court is "deprived of jurisdiction."

"The importance of Justice Scalia's point that if it's not clearly jurisdictional, it doesn't have private court jurisdiction, and this statute is not a model of clarity [on the penalty-tax issue]," Blumenthal said. "That exchange, I think, was very important."